Author's Note:

Finally! Now we're getting somewhere! ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.


Chapter 18:

I wake up quite late this morning, but feel infinitely better than I did the previous morning. I take a quick look around to confirm that I am actually alone. No hand around my waist, no blonde hair splayed out over my pillow, and all clothes on my person. Yes, I am definitely alone.

I make my way into the bathroom still in a sleepy haze. When I splash water over my face to wake myself up, I remember the events of last night. I stare at my reflection as I replay them in my head. Picnic, milkshake, oreos, bats, Spencer, kiss. Yes, kiss. I remember it very clearly.

After realising the extent of my feelings for Spencer, I closed myself off, afraid of what it meant. Both to Casey, and to myself. Casey, because she's my best friend, and Spencer's most recent ex... Myself, because... Well, I'm experiencing feelings I haven't felt in a long time, and the last time I let those feelings take over, I had my heart ripped out.

So what did I do? I pulled away from Spencer. I closed myself off, trying to give myself space to think, although with her incessant nagging, she made it impossible to think, so I just went for it.

I went for it.

And I liked it.

I liked it a lot.


I eventually find myself in the kitchen after getting changed to find that Pam has made pancakes again and kept some over for me. Yes! How glad am I that I can actually taste properly today?

Spencer has her back to me, but when Brooke and Lucy greet me, she turns her head and throws a shy smile in my direction. I scratch the back of my neck nervously and give her a subtle smile myself, not really sure how to act after last night. At least she's not pissed anymore...

"Good morning, girls. How are you today?"

"Fine," they reply in unison.

The twins are busy hitting Chase with place mats while Dale and Glen laugh along, so I doubt they're aware of my presence.

"Ash?" Brooke calls out. "Are you feeling better today?"

"I'm feeling a lot better today, thank you, Brooke." Brooke bounds up to me and throws her arms around me. I catch Spencer subconsciously smiling at the interaction as she watches on.

"I'm glad you're better." Before long she pulls away. "Guess what! Uncle Rob said he has a surprise for us! He's going to show us after lunch!"

"Really? That sounds exciting! I wonder what it is..."

"Maybe he made us a big princess castle!" Lucy shouts out.

"Maybe..." I concede. I sure hope they don't get their hopes up. When we walked past the workshop last night, I definitely didn't see a princess castle, and that would be pretty noticeable, don't you think? Seriously though... I wonder what it is. He's been working pretty hard on something this past while, so it must be something substantial.


For the rest of the morning and afternoon, we all entertain ourselves out the back, Annie and Pam setting up the bubble machine for the twins as Spencer challenges Glen to a game of HORSE. The rest of us are splashing around in the pool, but I end up leaning over the edge as I watch Spencer and Glen battle it out.

Feet.

Hands.

Elbow.

Knees...

Yes! She's got it!

I can't help the grin that takes over my face as I watch on. Glen is knocked for six as Spencer keeps scoring. In fact, he's thrown off a little as a few of his own shots go a little off target and miss the basket.

Glen is so traumatised when Spencer beats him that he challenges her again.

"Alright, that was a fluke. You've never been good at basketball... HORSE sucks anyway. First to ten wins."

"Fine." She throws him a grin, which infuriates him even more, before giving me a sly wink. I can't help but chuckle.


Nine each.

Come on, Spencer; you can do this.

She takes up position, getting herself ready. Perfect. Just bend your knees. Bend your –

She shoots prematurely, probably the pressure of it possibly being the final shot. Glen just laughs as he steps up to take his shot. He better not get this...

Just when he's about to take the shot, I let out a loud cough, pretending to have swallowed some water from the pool when he turns to give me a glare. Spencer just giggles as he goes off to retrieve the ball. When his back is turned, I take this chance to mouth the word 'knees' to Spencer. When she realises, she rolls her eyes and hits her head softly.

"Forgot," she mouths back, before giving me the thumbs up.

"Okay, go ahead!" Glen throws the ball to her and she sets herself up again, this time bending her knees.

I watch as she launches the ball into the air. The time it spends in the air feels like an eternity, though I know it's only seconds.

And it's in.

She cheers as Glen's face drops. Dale is distracted by the commotion.

"Did you just lose to a girl?" Chase chuckles at his brother's question.

"No, I –"

"Yes, he did!" I shout out. "He was whipped!"

"Shut up!"


After the whipping, Spencer and Glen join us in the pool, Brooke and Lucy being called to the lake by Rob, along with Max and Emily.

They're not gone long before Brooke hurries back.

"Ashley! Ashley!" She runs up to the pool. "Come on! Uncle Rob wants to show you something!"

"Right now?"

"Yeah! Come on!" I hop out of the pool, wrapping myself in a towel before Brooke takes my hand and drags me down to the lake.

When we get there, my jaw drops, my eyes wide.

No way.

Rob is a legend, and my life is now complete.

There he is, just standing on the boardwalk with two perfectly sculpted wooden rafts floating in the water behind him.

I could kiss him right now... But I won't, because that would be very wrong...

Brooke looks up at me, pulling on my hand.

"Can we go out on them? Pleeease?" I'm stunned. I can't believe Rob finally got around to making them.

"Sure you can!" Rob answers for me. "They're sturdy enough... Just make sure you take two of these with you." He walks behind the workshop and emerges with four paddles.

So he was hiding them behind the workshop was he? Sneaky...

This is going to be so much fun...


Of course, the rafts were a huge hit. As soon as news spread, everyone got their swimming gear on and ended up out on the lake except for Pam, Rob and Annie, who watched from the sidelines.

We had a great laugh racing on the rafts and splashing about. Of course, it wasn't so funny for me when Chase decided to grab my ankle when the pair of us were thrown overboard by Glen, and pull me under unexpectedly, nearly causing me to drown. I didn't though, so it's all good.

Dinner went without a hitch, although Casey kept texting under the table thinking no one would notice because her phone was on silent. Newsflash: No one keeps staring down at their crotch like that unless there's something seriously wrong. I'll bet it's that Martha chick; the mysterious quiet one, who we're yet to meet...

Anyway... Now, it's the girls' bed time, and I've been told I'm on duty tonight. Right... Bath, then bed.

Surprise, surprise... Spencer offers to help during bath time, taking one while I take the other. Of course, Brooke goes straight to Spencer so Lucy comes to me. Traitor.

The majority of bath time is spent in laughter as we blow bubbles at each other and make bubble beards. I have to back off a bit at one point though, as Spencer and I get engaged in a pretty intense bubble fight and I almost repeat my actions from last night in front of the girls. That wouldn't go down too well...

When we're heading into the girls' room, I reluctantly say goodbye to Spencer for the time being. Although I really like spending time with her, I wouldn't want her spying on me whilst I read them a story. Can't let her know my technique. I'm still working up to being better than her at story time...

When we get into the room, Brooke and Lucy jump into bed, Brooke making a statement as I pick up tonight's story.

"I really like Spencer."

"So do I, Brooke. So do I..." You have no idea...


When the girls are all tucked up in bed, Lucy out cold already as usual, Brooke turns to me.

"Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"You know the way my birthday's coming soon?"

"Uh-huh..."

"Well... Do you think we can maybe go camping? I saw it on TV and it looks really fun. Can we do it? Please?"

"Hmm... Well, I don't know about 'camping', but what about 'glamping'?

"Glamping? What's that?" She screws up her face in confusion.

"It's just like camping, only with a little added glamour... Like proper toilets... And showers... And food..."

"Oh."

"Yeah. So we could set the tents up out the back and camp in the garden, but still come into the house if we need to. Sound fun?" It does sound fun. Heck, even I'm excited...

"Yeah!" She's grinning now.

"Alright. If that's what you want, that's what we're going to do."

"Yay!" She throws her arms around me, and I hug her back before rolling over with her still in my arms and tucking her in again.

"Alright, time to get some sleep now, okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight, Ash."

"Goodnight, Brooke. Goodnight, Paige."

"I love you."

"I love you too." With a kiss planted on Brooke's forehead, I straighten up before making my way out of the room.

Leaving the kids' room, a thought hits me. When Brooke mentioned her birthday, I felt nothing; absolutely nothing.


I let my thoughts consume me as I return to the others, taking a seat at the edge of the sofa beside Chase as I pretend to be interested in the film everyone is watching.

By the time the film ends, there's only Glen, Casey, Chase, Spencer and myself left. Of course, Casey suggests a game of Scrabble, and Glen, Poker, although not wanting to converse any more for the night, I make my excuses and turn in for the night, seeing Spencer give me a worried look as I leave the room.

When I'm alone in my room, I find it hard to get over to sleep, my mind going crazy about the nothingness.

I pace the room for a few seconds before opening my bedroom door. I can hear voices, so they're still downstairs. I won't be able to make it past them without them noticing.

I decide to go the old-fashioned way... When Casey and I were younger, we used to sneak out sometimes just to be rebellious. We didn't have any particular reason to. It just gave us a thrill.

I make my way to the window before opening it and climbing out. I creep along the roof until I get to Casey and Chase's room and search for the drainpipe. When I find it, I sit on the ledge before swinging my legs around it and shimmying down as quietly as I can.

Once I'm on the ground, I make my way down the hill towards the lake. It's peaceful there. I'll be able to think, then come back when I grow tired.

When I get to the lake, I take a seat near the end of the boardwalk, just watching the water as it's contorted by the night air.


"Hey." I'm startled slightly by the voice behind me.

"Hey," I reply.

"I was starting to get worried. I sent you a text, and you didn't reply, so I took a peek into your room, but you weren't there."

"Couldn't sleep."

"Figures." She pauses for a second. "So why here?" I shrug.

"Peaceful."

"I guess... But don't you think it's kind of creepy at night?" I turn to look at her then.

"Why, because there may be bats?" She smiles at my playfulness.

"Well, yeah... But... I mean, I guess it isn't so bad when there are two of us, but I don't understand why you'd come out here by yourself." I turn back to the water again.

"Just needed to think."

She takes a seat beside me then, the only other sounds being the chirping of the crickets, and the rippling of the water as the wind catches the surface. After a while, Spencer breaks the silence.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She nudges me gently with her shoulder.

"I just..." I sigh before looking down to my hands. "It's Brooke's birthday soon, and I... Well, the night before..." She nods in understanding, knowing exactly what I mean to say without me having to actually explain any further.

"Paige, right?" I nod. "It hurts, I know. I –"

"No, see that's just it; I'm not hurting. I thought I would be; I was so sure, but... I'm not."

"Well that's a good thing, right?" She ducks her head to make eye contact with me as she smiles, gently.

"I guess. I mean, it is; I know it is, but... I just... I don't want to forget, you know? I kind of feel guilty for not hurting anymore, like I'm just erasing her from my life completely."

"But you're not." She puts a hand on my shoulder then, prompting me to look at her. "I know you're not. Paige knows you're not. You just need to believe that yourself. You might be feeling guilty, but over time, that guilt will fade, just like the pain has. Trust me, I've been there." She shakes her head, smiling slightly. "You know, when Clay died, it was horrible. I was so torn up about it, I refused to leave my room for days... He was the only one who was there for me when I first came out. Aside from my dad I mean, but... There's only so much you can tell your parents. My mom and Glen came around eventually, but Clay really was my pillar of strength."

I keep my gaze locked on her as she continues, playing with her hands.

"On the day of his funeral, I remember being in the car behind the hearse just looking out the window, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing... These people were just... Getting on with their lives; going to work, meeting friends, getting coffee... They were just... Being; completely oblivious to the fact that Clay was gone. Some people were even laughing and having fun." Her eyebrows furrow as she shakes her head again. "I was so angry. How could they act so casual? So happy; so alive, when he wasn't? It was like my world fell apart when he was taken from us, and these people just got on with it..." There's silence for a second. "It took me a while to realise... No matter what, you'll never forget, but... Life goes on."

I let her words sink in as we sit in silence or a while, just watching the ripples in the water, moonlight bouncing off the surface as it creates a white glow.

We can never forget the ghosts of our past, but life goes on.

So maybe I should just live...

I get up then, making my way towards Rob's workshop.

"Where are you going?" She calls after me as she gets to her feet.

"You want to go out on the lake?"

"What?" She looks at me confused as I go behind the workshop and slide one of the wooden rafts out.

"The raft." I point at it. "You want to go out on it?" She smiles me, shaking her head.

"You're crazy."

"Nah. I'm just living." I smirk before dragging the raft over to the end of the boardwalk and letting it slip off the edge. I hold it steady as I look up at Spencer. "Well? You just going to stand there, or will you be joining me?" It takes her a second, but eventually she steps on to the raft, squealing slightly as I jump on after her.

"Shhhh!" I lift a finger to my lips. "The bats might hear!" she slaps me playfully on the arm.

"Shut up! For a second, I thought you were going to say I might wake the others!"

"Well yeah, that too!" I grin.


We've been out on the lake for about half an hour, just talking. We've managed to shuffle around so that Spencer is lying on her back, hands behind her head as I lay with my head on her stomach, playing with my necklace as our bodies make a 'T' shape.

Somehow, the conversation takes a turn, and we end up talking about firsts.

"So what was your first pet?" I ask her.

"You should know this one."

"Bill? Or should I say Jill?" She chuckles slightly.

"Yep. At least I think she was. I can't remember having any other pets. There may have been a goldfish. Glen's mentioned one a few times, but if there was, it didn't last long, so that hardly counts... What about you?"

"Didn't have one."

"What? You never had a pet?" I shake my head.

"I wanted one. I remember my friend got a puppy one Christmas, so I begged my parents for one for my tenth birthday. My dad would have got me one too, if it wasn't for my mom. She's always been a witch. She managed to talk him out of it by telling him that she'd refuse to look after it." I scoff "She couldn't even look after a child never mind a dog... Since my dad was never really at the house, he thought it best not to get one. He probably couldn't bear leaving it alone with her, and I don't blame him. I think the only reason she didn't want one was because she'd have to be careful not to leave her things lying around. Heaven forbid one of her Gucci shoes ended up being a chew toy..."

"Geez, she sounds horrible..."

"Yeah... I was used to it though. Anyway, let's add a little more excitement. Who was your first kiss? Like, proper kiss." I feel Spencer's stomach move up and down behind me as she starts to laugh.

"Jeremy Roberts. I think I was about fourteen. We were playing a game of truth or dare, and everyone knew he liked me, so naturally, when he picked dare, he was dared to kiss me. Ugh, it was so gross. We went behind his dad's shed, although two of our other friends insisted on tagging along just to make sure we did it. Romantic, huh?" I giggle. "Anyway, the deal was that we had to kiss for ten seconds. With tongues. Of course, Ryan used the stopwatch on his phone to time us. It was so awkward. I'd never done it before, so I started to panic... Like, what was I supposed to do with my hands? Or my tongue? Do I just stick it in and go for it? Do I move it around, or side to side? I had no idea..." I'm laughing as she continues the story. I could just imagine a little nervous Spencer... "My hands started to get sweaty, so I thought I'd just keep them to my side, holding on to my belt. I was seriously cringing the closer he got. Then he did it. And it was the longest ten seconds of my life; I'm telling you. He was like a washing machine!" She pulls a face as she recalls the memory. "Seriously, like, I knew there'd be saliva, but I wasn't aware that one human being could secrete that much. I mean, really, he had enough to fill a small paddling pool in there. Eww... Thank God it was over in ten seconds." I chuckle. "What about you? How was your first kiss?" She arches her eyebrows.

"It was fine."

"It was fine?"

"Yep."

"What, that's it? That's all you're going to give me? I just gave you every detail of my first ever kiss and all you're giving me is 'it was fine'?" I shrug. "Seriously? I'm not buying it."I sigh.

"Alright, fine. It was Casey." Her eyes widen.

"Casey?"

"Yeah." I feel my cheeks going red.

"Well, how? Why?" She's so confused right now, and rightly so. It's so wrong. Why did we even try it?

"We were young, okay? We've been best friends since kindergarten, so we were inseperable. As we got older, and the rest of our friends in school started developing crushes, we felt different somehow. The girls would talk about how cute the boys looked, and the boys would try to impress the girls. We never felt comfortable when we were sitting with the girls and the topic of boys came up. It was like we were expected to join in, saying how much we loved one boy's dimples, or another boy's hair... We went along with it for a while, but the reality was we never liked them. Sure, the dimples were cute, but I bet his skin wasn't soft and smooth, and as for the hair, well, yeah, it looked pretty soft, but it wasn't nearly long enough. Besides, boys are hairy and gross..." She chuckles at this, now having subconsciously moved one hand from behind her head to play with my hair as I speak.

"Anyway... One day we were just hanging out in Casey's room. I remember Dale had just broken up with his girlfriend at the time, and he had been sitting in the living room with a group of friends, laughing as he spouted some nonsense about her. Casey and I got really annoyed with him. She was a lovely girl, and absolutely gorgeous, and he had no right to talk about her like that. So we were both pretty pissed in Casey's room, slagging Dale off, when Casey just blurted out that she think she might like girls. When I told her I thought I did too, we didn't know what to do. We weren't a hundred percent sure if we did, so we decided to kiss, you know, to see what it was like." Spencer's biting her lip, probably to suppress laughter.

"And? Did it live up to your expectations?" She's full on grinning now.

"No." Looking at Spencer, I can't help the smile that takes over my own face. "It was wrong. So wrong." I shake my head on embarrassment. "But not because it was a girl; because it was Casey. It only lasted a couple of seconds before we stopped and decided to never talk about it ever again." She laughs then and I jab her lightly in the ribs with my elbow. "Stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry, but it's just too funny! I mean, Casey? Really?" I lift my head off her stomach and wrap my arms around my legs as I sit up, turning my head away from her in a huff. I'm not really huffing though; I'm just embarrassed.

"Aww, Ashley, don't be like that!" She sits up behind me. "I'm joking! Come on, look at me!" She puts her hand on my shoulder, trying to get me to turn my head.

When I do turn my head, I keep a straight face as I look at her.

"At least my first kiss wasn't with a washing machine," I state firmly, a ghost of a smile on her lips as she takes it in.

"True that." She lies back down, me mimicking her actions as we resume our previous position. "First kisses suck." I hum in agreement, before contradicting myself.

"Not all of them though." I think back to that night at the pier. It was only a chaste kiss, but still; it was perfect.

"Yeah," she agrees. I have no idea if she's thinking about the same thing I am, but I sure hope she is.


Since our conversation earlier, Spencer and I have been sitting in comfortable silence. It's weird; we don't even feel the need to be constantly communicating verbally to enjoy each other's company.

"Ash?" She breaks the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I was just thinking... How are we getting back to shore?" Huh?

Shit.

I forgot the paddles.

I wasn't even thinking about that when I brought the raft out. The easy current naturally carried us out without us having to do a thing. Now, however, it seems we're stranded.

"Uh... It's okay. We'll just use our hands..." I start to use my hands like a paddle, pushing the water with my palms. It doesn't do much mind you; it's pretty useless actually...

"Right. Well that's great; we're bound to get in just before sunrise..." Is that sarcasm I detect? I throw her a look before splashing her. "Hey!"

"Well maybe if you helped rather than just sitting there, we'd get there faster." She sighs before aiding my attempt at getting back to shore. After about five minutes, we're not much further than we were before, the current working against us, and our arms growing tired.

"Ash, this isn't working. We're going about as fast as a snail on speed." I chuckle. The sarcasm just oozes from her when she's frustrated, doesn't it?

"Well what do you suppose we do then? We haven't got a paddle."

"And just whose fault is that?" She arches her eyebrows in a playful manner. I know she's not pissed off; she's just toying with me.

"So I forgot the paddles. It's fine; we'll just keep using our hands."

"Ashley... We've been trying. It isn't working. We've moved about a metre in the past five minutes."

I take a look around, pondering what to do. We can't just keep going with the current. Apart from where the boardwalk is, the rest of the grassy edges are raised, so if we did let the current carry us, we'd reach the edge, but there's no way we could climb up... I think of a plan, and decide to stick to it. It may not be ideal, but it'll get us there faster.

I look at Spencer and sigh before jumping off the raft. When I emerge at the surface, Spencer is shocked.

"Ashley! What are you doing?" I hold on to the raft as I kick my feet, propelling it forward.

"You wanted faster, right? This fast enough?" I throw her a cheeky grin as she beams down at me.

"You're really are crazy."

"Yeah? And you're wet!" I grab her wrist and pull her in with me.

She grabs on to me, having not expected my actions, and uses me to pull herself up. When she resurfaces, spluttering, she pushes me before grabbing on to the raft and wiping her eyes.

"God! It's freezing!"

"Yeah, well, it's the middle of the night. What were you expecting; tropical waters?" I smirk at her.

"I can't believe you did that!" She splashes me when her vision is no longer obscured.

"It was funny!" I laugh.

"Yeah, hilarious!" She's smiling though; she obviously didn't mind.

"Look at it this way; now there are two of us paddling, we'll get there in half the time!" I grin at her, which she returns.

"I guess you're right. Better start paddling then..." She arches an eyebrow at me. Alright then...


We get to shore pretty quickly actually. It turns out my plan worked better than the paddles would have. See, not just a pretty face.

When we do get to the boardwalk, Spencer lifts herself on to it.

"Alright, so I guess I'll just push it and you pull. I'll lift it up here and you can grab it."

"Okay."

She waits as I lift the edge of the raft. Once she has a firm grip, I move towards the back and start to kick my legs so it goes forward. Between the two of us, we manage to get the raft on to land. I expect Spencer to slide the raft back to its place behind the workshop, but when I go to lift myself out of the water, I'm blinded temporarily by an unexpected wave of water hitting my face.

I splutter and shake my head before wiping my eyes and looking up at a mischievous Spencer.

"What did you do that for?"

"You pulled me into the water." I go to get out again, but I'm hit with another splash.

When I recover from the second assault, I see Spencer has moved and is now sitting at the edge of the boardwalk in front of me, her legs dangling in the water as she watches me intently.

"Let me out..."

"No." She bites her lip.

I move closer, managing to get close enough to rest my hands on either side of her without getting more water thrown in my face.

"Spencer." Our gazes lock. "Let me out." A few seconds pass before she shakes her head in silence, still gnawing on that bottom lip.

I don't know what it is, but something inside me snaps, and before I know it, I've thrust myself out of the water, my lips colliding with hers.

I push myself further up the boardwalk with my hands so we don't slip into the water, Spencer following my lead as she fights to keep our lips connected, her right hand coming up to tangle through my cold, damp locks as the other finds solace on the back of my neck, keeping a firm grip.

I use my left arm to hold my weight as my right makes its way to her jaw, stroking slightly as I deepen the kiss.

The whimper this evokes from Spencer sends my senses into overdrive, heat flooding through me as she shifts ever so slightly, her thigh lifting up and bumping into my centre lightly before it cowers away again.

Our tongues continue to battle for dominance, Spencer's now more confident scratching on my scalp spurring me on.

When the need for oxygen gets too much, I pull away slightly, flushed and breathing heavily as I stare down at an equally flushed and panting Spencer. She bites her lip and smiles before speaking.

"You're a good kisser."

"Better than Jeremy?" I ask, with a smirk. She giggles, the hand on the back of my neck playing with the little hairs there as she runs the other across my jaw; it's too cute.

"Much better..." She nods and my smile grows wider. "So what are you waiting for? Aren't you going to do it again?" She throws me a sexy smirk and it's all the encouragement I need.

I dip my head to catch her lips again, instantly deepening the kiss as she moans, one hand in my hair again as the other travels down to my shoulder, squeezing as my own hand covers hers in my hair. Our tongues continue to duel as my hand makes a slow journey down her bare arm, causing the small hairs there to rise in its trail, and creating goose bumps on the surface of her smooth skin.

My hand soon makes its way to her side, tracing patterns on the soft skin revealed below her soaked vest. It seems the hand she had previously been gripping onto my shoulder with has gone walkies too, as it has managed to snake down my side and under my own vest, allowing her access to my back. When her nails dig slightly into my skin as she trails them down, I let out a faint growl, turning my attention from her lips to her neck.

She lets out a gasp as my lips latch onto her neck. The more pressure she uses as she rakes her fingers down my back, the more worked up I get, and the less I can control myself. So far I've been pretty careful not to leave a mark, but when she moans out as she scrapes the back of my shoulder particularly forcefully, I can't help but bite down on the supple skin at the base of her neck just above her collarbone, sucking it as she whimpers, before soothing it with my tongue.

Soon enough, I'm pulled back up to meet her lips, one of her hands returning to my hair as the other moves further down my back. Subconsciously, the hand I have at her side slips down to her thigh and lifts, prompting her to hook it over my waist and pull me closer, a moan escaping my lips.

Alarm bells go off as it gets a little too heated. We can't do this yet. I can't do this yet.

I pull back, deciding to lighten the situation with a little humour as I gaze into her eyes.

"You know... You're a better kisser than Casey..." She slaps me on the arm as she laughs.

"Hey!" I laugh along with her. "Way to ruin the mood, Romeo!" She's still smiling as she says this.

I steal a quick kiss before standing up and holding my hand out for her to take.

"Come on, let's go get dried up; you look like a drowned rat..." I smirk.

"Oh, why thank you!" She takes my hand, regardless of the insult. "You know, you're not far off yourself..."


Not wanting the night to end just yet, the pair of us dry ourselves off, save for our hair, and get a change of clothes before taking a seat on one of the logs around the campfire. The site isn't that close to the house, so, confident that the trees will conceal any smoke, I light the fire and make my way into the house, telling Spencer that I'll be back soon.

A few minutes later, I return with two mugs of hot chocolate and Glen's hangover blanket draped over my shoulders. Spencer accepts the drink with thanks before eyeing the blanket up cautiously.

"Don't worry; it's been washed. I just took it out of the dryer."

She seems content as she lets me drape it over one of her shoulders before pulling the other side over my own as I sit beside her, our sides touching.

We sit in silence for a while, sipping on our drinks as we watch the fire burn, listening as it crackles.

There's something calming about watching a fire. It's almost entrancing, like as soon as you look at it and see the flames rising, you just can't look away. It's therapeutic.

As I'm hit with a wave of heat from the fire, I turn to Spencer.

"You warm enough?"

"Yeah." She smiles. "Thanks." I nod as she places her mug on the ground.

Why do I feel like an awkward fifteen year old again? It's like those douchebags in the cinema who don't know whether to put their arm around a girl or not, so they do that stupid yawn thing. Right now though, I'm just like said douchebags. What is happening to me?

I sigh as I set my empty mug down on the ground, wiping my mouth subtly to rid myself of the inevitable chocolate tache. It seems I've missed a spot though, as Spencer catches my eye when I sit back up. She giggles slightly.

"Oh, you've got something..." She reaches over and uses her thumb to brush over the area just above my lip. I watch as her eyes trace my lips. When her hand is lowered again, she raises her gaze to catch mine.

She looks even more beautiful right now than she did at the lake, with her damp hair swept back and her face completely natural, the flickering glow from the fire accentuating her features.

I lick my lips, my gaze shifting to watch as her tongue darts out to wet her own.

Slowly, we both lean in, our lips connecting in a gentle kiss.

It's not like the one back at the lake. It's soft and sweet. It only lasts for a few seconds before we pull away slightly, our foreheads resting against each other. I shake my head slightly as my jaw clenches, eyes closed.

"I can't stand this." I whisper. "It's too hard."

I don't mean 'this' right now. I mean staying away from her. It's gotten to the point where I have all these feelings that I just can't turn my back on anymore.

"Shhh... It's okay. It's okay."

I claim her lips with my own again, this time with renewed vigour as I use my hands to pull her closer.

I can't get enough of her lips. They're like a drug; just so addictive. Now I've finally got a taste, I don't want to stop. I know I have to though, but it's just so hard. As she gets more passionate, I feel my composure weakening. Slowly but surely, I'm slipping.

When she bites down on my bottom lip, I almost snap again. Almost.

I need to stop.

I need to think of something that will douse the fire within me enough to make me pull away. Easier said than done. What she's doing right now with her tongue is proving to be quite distracting...

Okay, clowns. Clowns and rainbows and rabbits, and... Wait. I've just had a brilliant idea.

I pull away suddenly and look into her eyes, before blurting it out.

"Come with me to the supermarket tomorrow." She eyes me for a second, her lips swollen and eyebrows raised, before replying.

"What?"

"Come with me to the supermarket." She looks perplexed as she lets out a puff of air.

"Wow... Well, I'm a sucker for a good bit of romance, but I have to say, I have never been asked to go on a spontaneous trip to the supermarket..." There's that sarcasm again.

"No, I don't mean like that... I mean... I've just had a great idea for Brooke's birthday present. Will you come with me to get it?" She narrows her eyes.

"You want to get her a birthday present from the supermarket?"

"Yes." I know I sound crazy right now, but I think it's one of the best ideas I've ever had.

"Well, okay... If that's what you want..."

"It is."

"Alright, well, tomorrow then." She smiles at me.

"Tomorrow," I nod.

I'm excited now. Brooke's going to love me for this.

I stand before grabbing the bucket of water that's kept to the side and extinguishing the fire, lifting the mugs with one hand as I hold the other out for Spencer to take. She folds the blanket before taking a hold of it. This time, I'm not letting go. I'm going to let myself 'live'.

As we're walking back to the house hand in hand, I nudge her playfully.

"Better watch out for those bats..."


Thank God Pam still keeps a spare key under one of the flower pots out the back. Way easier than climbing up the drainpipe again...

When we get to the top of the stairs, things get awkward again. Well, I think so anyway. I know we've spent a good part of the night making out, but now that we're going our separate ways for the night, I'm not quite sure how we should say goodnight... It's like an awkward first date. I mean, do I kiss her on the cheek? Do I go in for the lips? Or maybe I'll just stick with the awkward hug...

I have my suspicions that Spencer may be a mind reader when she answers my question by reaching over and pulling on the front of my shirt so she can connect our lips once more in a chaste but sensual kiss.

When she pulls away, her eyes lock on mine as she gives me a shy smile.

"Goodnight." I'm stunned for a second, but soon find my voice once more.

"Uh, g-goodnight." Way to go, you stuttering fool...

She throws me one of those adorable head tilts and smiles again before disappearing through her door.

When I get to my own room, I throw myself on the bed, absolutely buzzing.

When my mind takes a rare break from its all-consuming thoughts of Spencer, it suddenly dawns on me that not once did I think about Casey tonight, and you know what... It was great. I was able to just let myself be without worrying about what she'll think

Maybe it's time I stop thinking.

Maybe it's time for me to 'live'.

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A/N – So... Worth the wait? Even though it was mostly PG, but still... Finally! Also, I was wondering... If things were to get a little hot 'n' heavy in future chapters, should I bump the rating up to M, or will it be fine as T? I'm not sure as this is my first fic :S